Should Lenox Say Goodbye to the Millionaires?

Lenox Memorial Middle and High School have been the Millionaires since I was in high school, 15 plus years ago, and even back then we used to give them a hard time about the name. I would see Lenox students at athletic meets and games, and even the ones I was friends with, I would give a friendly verbal jab or two about the mascot, despite growing up in a small affluent town in Berkshire County as well. I remember other parents saying it was a pretentious and arrogant name, which should be changed for the children's on good.

Twenty years later the debate still stands, is the name representative of the area's local history, or is it an outdated name which promotes the economic divide? The debate and the decision has been turned over the student body, with faculty and staff weighing in as well. According to The Berkshire Eagle, the 44 students who attend the school had the opportunity to cast paper ballots at polling stations for the advisory vote, outside the cafeteria, included separate colored ballots for the staffs votes. Principal Michael Knybel said the vote will be tabulated and released next Wednesday, giving students absent on voting day a chance to participate.

Should the school change their mascot name? Should this decision be left up to the students, or to residents of Lenox, whose taxes help support the school?